Food: Easy Oatly mango ‘kulfi’

When the Oatly branded product of their Orange Mango oat drink came out, loads were sceptical, is it ‘milky’? Is it ‘juicy’? And some where perplexed altogether (I like the product as it is!). You can find it in the UK at IKEA stores and it’s available from supermarkets here in Sweden.

 

Oatly Orange Mango Oat Drink. Photo: Oatly

 

Here is a quick way you can use it creatively. To make a light but sweet kulfi-style Indian dessert.

(Makes 4)

To make you’ll need:

• 200ml Oatly Orange Mango oat drink
• 8tbs Oatly fraîche/ other non-dairy sour cream
• 3tbs coconut chips (optional)
• 3tbs golden syrup/ corn syrup
• Pinch of salt

Simply mix the Fraîche and the syrup together in a bowl and slowly add in the Orange Mango, continuously stirring. Next, add in the coconut chips for added texture and the salt and stir through, then simply pour it into molds. I used silicone cupcake moulds, but feel free to use what you have and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours to set. When ready to serve take them out of the freezer a couple of minutes before you’d like to plate up and de-mould. Serve with fresh fruit, chopped nuts and a sauce. I served them with an easy raspberry and cardamom coulis.

To make:

• 200g fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1tbs icing sugar/ powdered sugar
• 1tsp ground cardamom
• Pinch of salt

To make it couldn’t be any easier. Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan or frying pan and heat on low until the raspberries start exuding their juice. Take off the heat and blend it down with a food processor. Strain out the seeds and pour in a jug. Leave to cool for serving.

To save time, I’d make the coulis whilst the ‘kulfi’s are in the freezer. The result should be a light vegan-alternative to a very rich Indian dessert. Purists will say it isn’t the same as a real kulfi that takes hours, but for a quick, convenient dessert that’s dairy-free it’s not bad at all!

Enjoy!

Food: Raw vegan ‘semlor’

As it’s semlor season here in Sweden for Fettisdagen, or ‘Fat Tuesday’, when these buns are traditionally eaten before lent. The traditional semla is a cardamom- enriched bun with homemade marzipan, called ‘mandelmassa’ and plenty of whipped cream. For this raw vegan version, I’ve decided to use persimmon/ kaki/ Sharon fruit in place of the bun. I was going to use peaches, but they seem to be impossible to get at the moment, not being in season.  As I’ve used persimmon, I decided to top it with a bit of matcha powder, a nod to the asian heritage of the fruit,

 

Makes 6 mini semlor bites

To make you’ll need:

• 3 persimmon/ kaki/ Sharon fruit
• 1.5 litres of water
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp almond oil
• 1 shot of amaretto (optional- don’t use if want to make it totally raw vegan)
• 2 tbs raw agave syrup
• 1tbs matcha powder, to top

For the mandelmassa:

• 150g soaked almonds
• 150g coconut sugar
• 1-2 tbs water

For the coconut & cardamom cream:

• The ‘cream’ from 2 tins of full fat coconut milk
• 3 tbs raw agave syrup
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste/ fresh vanilla bean

 

Start the night before by making up the syrup. Mix the water with the almond oil, agave and cardamom. I also added in some Amaretto, in the spirit of the decadance of a semla bun, but by all means, take it out.  3 big persimmon will make 6 mini semlor buns. To make them, I’d recommend slicing each fruit into 4 equal pieces and cutting out the middle with a round cookie-cutter. This should leave you with a top and bottom bun for each ‘semla’. If there is any lefover persimmon, simply chop it up and keep in the fridge, it’s a great addition to any curry or jerk recipe. De-leaf the top and place into a shallow dish. Once you have done this with all 3 fruits, cover with the syrup. This should soak up all those cardamom & almond flavours of the syrup. Leave overnight.

The next day, turn the persimmon buns in the syrup and make the mandelmassa. I used the recipe off this blog  to make it, but essentially, de-skin the almonds and blend it up with the coconut sugar in a food processor, adding a teaspoon or two of water to bind.

 

To make the cardamom cream, spoon out the coconut cream portion of 2 cans of full-fat coconut milk into a bowl, adding the ground cardamom, agave and vanilla bean paste. Whip up into a thick and aromatic cream.

 

When you’re ready to assemble your mini persimmon semla, take them out of the syrup and pat dry. roll a little ball of the mandelmassa and squish into the palm of your hands. Top the bottom of the buns with the disk of mandelmassa. Next, spoon on about a tablespoon of the cream. Top with the ‘top bun’ of persimmon and dust with some matcha powder.

 

Enjoy!

Food: Peaches with apricot, cardamom & lemon fraîche

Here’s a quick recipe for a dessert perfect for cooling down in the Summer sun.  The flavours also give a taste of the exotic, so even if you’re stuck at home, you can feel like you’re on holiday

Serves 2

You’ll need:

• 4 peaches ( I used doughnut peaches as they are in season)
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 shot of lemon vodka (optional)
• 2tbs sesame seeds, toasted

Apricot fraîche:

• 1/2 tub of vegan crème fraîche/ yogurt ( I used Oatly fraîche)
• 2tbs icing sugar, sifted
• 2 apricots, chopped finely
• 1tbs ground cardamom
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• Squeeze of lemon juice

 

Start by making the fraîche. Add all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly. You can either then place it in the fridge to firm or do as I did and use the freezer. It will start to create a slightly frozen texture, like a semi-freddo.

Whilst it’s in the fridge/freezer you can prep the peaches. Cut them in half and de-stone. This is usually a messy job, so I tried to keep it intact by poking the stone through the other side. once this is done, heat up a pan on a medium heat. Place the peach halves in the pan, flesh down. cook until they begin to colour. Flip and cook for a few minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over them and sprinkle them with the lemon zest. Take them out of the pan and place them into the serving bowls. This in an optional step, but I like pouring a shot of lemon vodka on them too! Take the fraîche out and dollop it on top. Finish with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. I’d recommend you pair it with a Tokaji wine.

Enjoy!

 

 

Drink: Semla Shake

Here’s a great recipe for fettisdagen (the Swedish Mardi Gras). It has all the flavours of semla buns, but none of the time-consuming process of proving and kneading. However, if you’re game for all that, then by all means this cocktail would be amazing paired with the decadent buns! You can omit the custard if you want, but it gives another dimension to the cocktail and hey, it is for Fat Tuesday, after all!

To make, you’ll need:

• 1 Whole carton of Oatly milk/ unsweetened unroasted almond milk
• 2 Scoops of Swedish Glace (Tofu Line) vanilla Ice cream
• 3 Shots of Amaretto
• 2 Shots of vanilla vodka (I used ABSOLUT, naturally)
• 1⁄2 tsp Ground cardamom
• 2tbs Oatly custard

To finish:

• Soy whip
• Cake crumbs

To make, put all the ingredients in a blender and whizz up until they make a sweet, aromatic cardamom laced cocktail. Get your glasses, in my case a vintage milk bottle, and fill with the mix. Top with some soy whipped cream, but be wary that it doesn’t sink, as it doesn’t behave exactly the way dairy cream does, it’s also a bit heavier.

Garnish with cake crumbs, vegan in my case, left over from a delicious Naturally Kind Food slice and you’re done!

 

Enjoy!

Food: Mulled cherry tarts

These cherry tarts are a quick and easy way of pleasing guests and delivering the kind of low effort, maximum impact impression we all look for around Christmas time. Whether you’re making them for family, friends or when a guest pops by.

You’ll need:

• 1 jar of sour cherries in syrup
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 70g of sugar (or more, depending on your sweet tooth!)
• 2 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 small glass of red wine
• 1 packet of pre-made shortcrust pastry

Pour all of the ingredients (bar the pastry and vanilla) into a saucepan and simmer on a low heat, allowing the spices to mull for a good 10-15 minutes.

When this is done, fish out the spices and crank up the heat until it’s boiling. Reduce until the mixture is thick and sticky. This is the time to add the vanilla. Stir and pour into a bowl to cool, then begin rolling out the pastry on a flour dusted surface to about 5mm thick.

Use a mug to cut out circles of pastry. Gently shape the circles into a greased tart tin. They should fill the tin but not overreach that much. Experiment with the mug width that works for your tin. When the pastry is loaded, spoon in the jammy mixture until it’s just about level with the pastry. Bake in the oven according to the instructions on the packet. Normally 180°c for about 20 minutes.

Perfect on their own or top couple of warm tarts with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream for a festive treat!

Food: Nordic Blueberry Bagel

Continuing on the Nordic theme, this is a recipe for a satisfying sweet Scandi-themed breakfast.

This recipe was also an excuse to open my Oatly cream cheese/påMackan that I brought back from my recent holiday in Copenhagen & Malmö. It’s only available in Sweden atm, so you’ll have to substitute it for other Vegan cream cheese.

I thought, what better than to partner it with with a Scandi themed compote to compliment the cream cheese

To make the compote, you’ll need:

• 1 tbs blueberry jam
• 100g sugar
• 125ml water
• 1 shot of snaps/akvavit
• 1 tsp of ground cardamom
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 50g blueberries
• 1tsp cornflower, slaked in 1tsp lemon juice
• Zest of quarter of a lemon

To make, simply put a pan on the hob on low and add the sugar, blueberry jam and water. When it all begins to dissolve, add in the blueberries, lemon zest, snaps and the spices. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the cornflower mixture. Take out the cinnamon stick by this point. Stirring, so it all comes together, cook out until it becomes a thick, sticky mixture. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

Once the compote is sufficiently cool, cut and toast a bagel (I used a sesame bagel) then slathered on a thick layer of Oatly cream cheese/påMackan. Now its’ time to spread a layer of the delectable Nordic fruity spread. Add the lid of the bagel, pick it up and devour- with a coffee of course 😉 !

Enjoy!